Marshall's Past, And Fionna's Future
by SimplyPassingBy
Summary: A different take on Marshall's past, and Fionna's future in the Land of Aaa. What did Marshall do before the Great Mushroom War? What will happen to Fionna in the days to come? Any feedback would be just dandy. I am working on more chapters, and will post them as I finish. Hope you enjoy!
1. A Thousand Years, And Counting

It was a bright and sunny day in the Land of Aaa. The kind of day that inspired most to lounge about outdoors, and enjoy the sunlight, possibly play games or sunbathe. The kind of day the people of Aaa loved so dearly. The kind of day Marshall Lee had grown to hate over the years.

Marshall found himself secluded in his home, in his cave, lounging on his couch rewatching Heat Signature. He'd seen it a dozen times, but honestly there wasn't much new around in the world of video entertainment, so he forced himself to enjoy the reruns. "Dammit. I hate this. I want to do something. Anything." Marshall announced aloud with a sigh. He then stood up from his slouched position, and floated to his television, legs bent back like always, and turned it off, not bothering to eject the movie.

Marshall then made his way over to his bass he crafted out of his families hand-me-down battle axe. His mother never got over his use of the axe, but he didn't care. He hated her.

Finding his place back on the couch, Marshall began strumming the guitar till he found a rhythm he liked, and proceeded to make up a song about how he hated days like today. He played for roughly an hour or so, honestly he lost track of the time. He stopped, sat his bass down gently on his couch, and floated into this kitchen to find some red to gulp down.

In his fridge, he got some strawberries, his favorite, and sank his fangs in them draining them of color. He opened his kitchen window to toss out the colorless fruit. After several strawberries, he heard something from his open window. Out of curiosity, he eased his head out of the window, and saw his best friend Fionna and her cat, he cared significantly less about, Cake running into his cave.

Marshalls first thoughts were on how he could scare the teenage girl, because that was just his kind of humor. After 1,246 years of being alive, normal jokes get rather boring. He liked to be original with his attempts as well but again, after 1,246 years you've pretty much seen it all. Originality is dead. However, he schemed and quickly glided over to his door, hovered up, and planted himself flat on the ceiling, perched directly over where Fionna and Cake would enter.

He heard footsteps on his porch. "Totes... Beat you... Cake!" exclaimed Fionna, short of breath. "Mhmm, baby you know I let you win, right?" Cake replied in a sassy tone, "What are we doing at the vampires house, anyway?" Marshall smirked, he knew Cake had a fear of vampires and didn't particularly care for him as a person, either. He loved it. "Shut up, Cake! Marsh is a good guy at heart, you just don't like him cause hes a vampire! Mehhh!" He could only assume Fionna was sticking her tongue out at this moment. "Mhmm, whatever. Are we going to sit around on his porch all day or what?" Cake asked, very unenthused. "No, I just needed to catch my breath." replied Fionna.

Fionna knocked on the door. No response. She knocked again. No response. "Hey, Marshy! It's Fionna and Cake! Are you home?" she yelled, attempting to get his attention. Marshall, still above the door, had to hold back laughter at the fright that was soon to occur.

Fionna slowly crept the door open. She glanced around the sitting room, no sign of Marshall Lee. "Ohp, to bad, guess he's not home! Better get out of here, maybe go to the Candy Kingdom...?" pleaded Cake. "No, he's here somewhere. Probably asleep... Or planning to... Scare us!" Fionna announced, pointing straight up at Marshall's hiding spot.

"Gahh, no fun Blue! You could have at least let me scare Cake!" Marshall grumbled as he floated down and stood before the two adventurers. Fionna jokingly punched Marshall in the arm, "Common Marsh, I've known you for how long? You're getting rusty!" Fionna said, giving him a smile. "Rusty? Whatever!" Marshall exclaimed as he shifted his normally boyish face, to that of a bat and hissed loudly. Cake immediately stretched back as far away from the vampire as possible. "Oh, common Marshall! You know she's afraid of that!" Fionna yelled, actually punching him in the shoulder, cutting into his laughter. "Good thing you hit like a girl!" Marshall replied, as he crossed his arms, and floated upside down with his head cocked back to look at his young friend.

"Gah, whatever you weirdo!" retorted Fionna, with a smile, "Cake! It's okay! Marshall didn't mean it!" "Mhmmm, and you wonder why I don't like him! I'm going back to the tree house!" Cake shouted across the cave, just before stretching much larger and making her way to the cave entrance.

"I'm sorry Fi, I bet she's gonna give you an ear full later, right?" Marshall apologized, drifting back down and planting his feet on the floor. "Nah. She's probably going home to eat some spaghetti. She'll be fine after that! No worries." replied Fionna, "What are you doing today?" Marshall looked left to right, and replied, "Oh you know, what all vampires do on sunny, cloudless days. Sit at home bored." Fionna frowned, "Whats dumb, I'll keep you company!" He smiled at the offer, he'd honestly been begging for company. It's times like this he believed Glob might be real.

"Sure, why not." Marshall replied, gesturing Fionna in. Fionna entered his four room home, and sat on his couch. "This couch still sucks, Marsh." said Fionna, jokingly. "Yeah, well, buy me a new one, huh?" replied Marshall as he floated back into the kitchen, "Hey! You hungry? I was just eating." Fionna thought for a moment. "Yeah sure, just bring me some of whatever you are having, it will be fine!" Marshall floated out of his kitchen, carrying a basket of strawberries. "So, wanna watch Heat Signature?" asked Marshall, as he took a seat by Fionna.

"Not really, sorry." replied Fionna, taking a strawberry from the basket in Marshall's lap. "Well, what do you want to do then?" Marshall asked, raising an eyebrow. "I 'unno, I was hoping maybe you could tell me about some of your adventures or something? All Gumball ever wants to talk about is royal stuff, or his talents, or science. It just gets old fast, you know?" Fionna said, making eye contact with the vampire. Marshall smirked, he didn't much care for Gumball ever since Fionna had began liking him. Which was a problem for Marshall, since he secretly had feelings for Fionna as well.

"Hmm, adventures..." Marshall started, and continued to tell Fionna about his post Mushroom War adventures, standing occasionally to act out a scene, or demonstrate the size of a monster. She gasped, and awed at the things Marshall told her about his own adventures, and even compared some of hers with his. She had a thing for adventure stories, and Marshall knew it.

Hours passed, and the daylight faded. "Wow, I can't believe that! That's awesome!" gasped Fionna. Her blue eyes were literally as big as saucers, and a big smile crept across her face. Marshall smiled. He liked seeing her smile, and he liked knowing he's the one who caused it.

Shortly after, Fionna had to leave, because it was getting late and she didn't want to worry Cake. Marshall offered to fly her home, but she insisted on walking. He shrugged his shoulders, "Alright, just be careful out there, Blue. Come back sometime, and i'll tell you more stories." yelled Marshall, waving her goodbye. "Rad! I'd love to! Goodnight Marshy!" replied Fionna, waving back at him.

Once Fionna was out of sight, he shut his door. "Globdammit. I don't know what came over me. I shouldn't be getting this attached to her." Marshall whispered to himself, pounding his forehead with his palms. "Whatever." he mumbled, working himself into a sense of disappointment. Marshall made his way to his bedroom, and striped off his flannel, discarding it on the floor. All he could think about was Fionna. This wasn't the first time this had happened, hell it had even happened with more than one girl throughout his long life. However, no other girl he had met in his lifetime seemed to have this sort of hold on him.

After many hours of restless tossing and turning, Marshall Lee drifted off to sleep, not that he needed it, but it helps pass the time and takes his mind off of things for a bit.


	2. What Lies Above

Fionna woke up to the smell of Cake making breakfast. She climbed down the make-shift ladder to the main room. "Oh, what's up baby? How'd you sleep?" asked cake, flipping a pancake. Fionna yawned, and replied "You know, same as always. What's on the agenda for today?" Fionna sat down on her couch, while waiting for Cake to reply. Cake stretched her free hand over to a calender. "Oh. mm-mm, not today, Fi! I've got a date with Lord Monochrom!" Cake said, in a giddy tone, as she pulled her arm back to her body.

"Ughhhhhh, what am I suppose to do all day?" Fionna said, now sitting upside down on the couch. "Well, its about twelve, you slept all day, you can fight that sword-wielding dolphin and that science cat at four. That will keep you busy for a little bit!" Cake suggested, putting the last pancake on the plate. Fionna stuck her tongue out at Cake as she walked over with the pancakes. "I mightttttt." Fionna replied, arranging herself properly on the couch, and getting a big bite of her share of pancakes.

"Oh riceballs, honey! I gotta get ready and fluffed for my date! You can have my pancakes!" Cake yelled, running and stretching around the tree house, not particularly grabbing or doing anything important.

Cake's little show made Fionna giggle. She continued taking huge mouthfuls of her pancakes, until she finished them. Then she started on Cakes share. Table manors were never Fionna's strong suit unless she was in the Candy Kingdom trying to impress PB, of course.

Fionna finished up both shares of pancakes, just as Cake was done hustling around. "Phew! Okay, how do I look, girl?" Cake asked, striking a pose. "Totally math!" Fionna replied, giving her sister a thumbs up. "No! I don't want to look math, I want to look hawt!" Cake said, squinting her eyes and stretching her face so close to Fionna's, that Fionna had to pull her head back. Fionna gave in, "Fine! Fine! You look hot!" Cake forced her face even closer to Fionna's and her voice got real deep, "No, do I look... Hawt?" Fionna pushed Cake away, and laughed, "Whatever, Cake! Just get out of here!"

Cake laughed, and strutted towards the door. "Fine, I'll leave, you just don't get into too much trouble now!" Cake shouted back at Fionna, giving her a wink. Shortly after, all the commotion in the house ceased. Fionna stuck her tounge between her lips and made a fart noise and slouched further down in the couch. She hung her head, and thought to herself "What to do today?" She looked around, and decided she would explore the attic. She doesn't go up there a lot. Most of it is packed high with boxes of Marshall Lee's things (Since the tree house was once his, long before Fionna actually knew Marshall, and he is too lazy to clean it out.).

Fionna climbed the make-shift ladder past her room, and into the attic. She was hoping to find some armor, a sword, a book, something from Marshall's adventures. The first few boxes had nothing but gems and off colored rocks. Boring. The next box was filled with scrap pieces of metal and shards of blue glass. Slightly interesting. Many more boxes down the road, she came across one that was full of magazines. Fionna wiped the dust off of the fragile cover page, trying not to tear it, however she failed. "Le... Leather... Leatherneck?" Fionna sounded out the name of the magazines aloud, still mostly covered in dust. "What the funk is a leatherneck?" Fionna thought to herself.

As she dug deeper in the same box, she found a small box covered in dust. She first tried to blow the dust off, to no avail. Slightly frustrated, she scrapped at the dust with her fingers. Cleaning off the box, she revealed a what looked like a bird, an anchor, and a circle? The letters under the image spelled 'U.S.M.C.' Fionna stared, puzzled by the box. "U-S-M-C? What does that mean?" Fionna mumbled, thinking out loud again.

Fionna pried the box open with her barely existent fingernails and fumbled through what it held. Inside the box she found some old pictures and some weird badges. She was officially confused. Disregarding her confusion, she looked through the pictures. There was one of a light skinned man, with a weird white cap on, wearing a fancy looking blue shirt, not even smiling for the camera. Then it hit her, "Wait! That's a human!" She was glued to the photo. She flipped to the next picture. She saw eight humans in brown suits, wearing some kind of body armor, in a desert. Most of them had sunglasses on.

Fionna couldn't make sense of her find. These were pictures of humans, before The Great Mushroom War, obviously. The question was, why did Marshall have these pictures She looked at the next picture. This one had the same human from the first picture, only this time he didn't have on that weird hat. He was wearing the weird brown suit and the armor, but he was sticking out his tongue and making the devil horns with his right hand. The first person Fionna thought about was Marshall, because that is his usual etiquette when taking a photo. There was no way this human was Marshall, he had short red hair.

"This doesn't make any freakin' sense." Fionna thought to herself. She began rubbing her temples. Before she could put anymore thought into the pictures, she heard a scream for help. Dashing to her feet, she placed the pictures back in the box they came from, rushed downstairs, and outside her tree home. She glanced left and right, and heard the scream again. She squinted her eyes and in the distance saw what appeared to be the Ice Queen dragging away a snow golem.

Before Fionna could react, she was under attack by a sword-wielding dolphin. The dolphins first swing nearly caught her stomach. "Ahh! I don't have time for this mash right now!" she yelled as she hacked off the dolphins head. From behind she heard the scream for help again "Don't worry! I'm coming snow golem!" Fionna yelled at the top of her lungs. As she began to run toward the snow golem in need, the science cat hit her with a spell, causing her legs to morph into the ground. "Really? I said... I don't... Have time for this!" she screamed, hurling her sword at the science cat, impaling it in the forehead.

As the science cat fell over limp, Fionna's feet were released from its spell. She took off after the Ice Queen. When Fionna arrived at the site of the kidnapping, she heard the Ice Queen yelling at the snow golem, as she drug him away "I just need you for my snow army! Together, we will capture all the princes!" "Stop right there!" Fionna yelled as she leaped into the air, and kicked the Ice Queen in the stomach. The Ice Queen yelped, and regained her stance in mid air as Fionna came crashing back to the ground. "I won't let you take that snow golem away!" Fionna promised, pointing a finger at the Ice Queen. "Back off!" yelled the Ice Queen, sending ice bolts after Fionna.

Backflipping out of the way of the bolts, Fionna went to draw her sword. "Oh glob, that cat has my sword!" she thought to herself. Before Fionna could react, the Ice Queen was upon her and had her frozen in a block of ice. As the ice fully encased her, she began to lose consciousness. Without Cake there, to back her up, she was stuck there. All alone.

Just as Fionna began to black out, she was set free and heard a friendly voice. "Don't you touch her, Ice Queen!" It was Cake! "Quick Cake! War hammer me!" Fionna yelled, extending an open hand into the air. Cake quickly shaped her body into a war hammer, and planted herself in Fionna's open palm.

Fionna leaped into the air and brought the war hammer down on the Ice Queens head, smacking her to the ground. "Uhhh..." the Ice Queen groaned Fionna landed right beside the Ice Queen and kicked her crown off. "Now go! Leave this snow golem alone!" Fionna demanded. "Fine! I don't need an army to kidnap princes anyway!" announced the Ice Queen, as she grabbed her crown and flew off deeper into the Ice Kingdom.

When the duo was positive the Ice Queen was gone, they exchanged a knuckle touch. "You know I totes had that, right?" Fionna assured Cake, with a smile. Cake shifted back to her usual shape. "Mhm, I bet." Cake replied sarcastically, smiling right back. Fionna walked over to the snow golem, who was crying frozen tears, "Hey, you are free now!" She keeled down and took off her backpack. She dug around for a moment, and produced an apple. "Want an apple?" Fionna asked, offering a plump apple to the snow golem. The golem stood, accepted her offering, smiled, and began trotting off to his home.

"What are you doing back so soon, Cake? I thought you had a date with Lord Monochro?" Fionna asked, as the two adventurers began their walk back to their tree house home. "I did, but my sister senses started tingling! So I rushed back! Good thing my gut never lies... You know aside from that one time." Cake replied, giving Fionna a wink. Fionna smiled, "Thanks sis." Cake started laughing, "Don't worry baby, I got yo' back like a butt crack!"

Fionna laughed, "Gross."


	3. Wounds Now Healed

On the walk back from the Ice Kingdom, Fionna stopped by and retrieved her sword from the science cat's dead body. "It's pretty rad how these things come back every day, ain't it?" Cake asked, not really expecting an answer. Fionna snorted, "Yeah, they can keep you busy." Cake stopped walking, and squinted at Fionna, "Are you alright? You seem a bit out of it girl." Fionna turned around, to see Cake giving her a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, I'm just fine. Something wrong with you?" Fionna accused back. "Nu-uhh baby, you just have been real quiet on the walk back." Cake replied, puzzled. "What? Nah. Just tired, or something. I 'unno." Fionna assured Cake, letting out a fake yawn.

"... Whatever." Cake gave up, starting towards the door of their tree house home.

As soon as Fionna and Cake arrived back at their tree house estate, Fionna immediately returned to the attic, where Marshall's things were. For some odd reason, Fionna could not get the photos and the contents of that mysterious box out of her head.

As Fionna returned to her previous box, and settled down on the dusty floor, Cake stretched her head up into the attic. "I thought you were... Tired?" she asked, as if accusing her of a crime. "Oh! I just remembered, Marshall asked me to bring some of his stuff to him tonight!" Fionna lied, and laughed nervously. Cake pouted in reply, and slowly let her body return to normal, keeping an ever-so-watchful eye on Fionna as she was shrinking back down to size.

Fionna wasn't quite sure why she didn't want Cake to know she was snooping in Marshall's things, but she just didn't. Plain and simple.

She continued to dig through the box, until she found a green version of that weird suit she saw the humans wearing, neatly folded close to the bottom of the box. She unfolded the suit, and cleaned what dust and grime she could off of it. She saw two patching of writing, one on each side of the chest. She read them from left to right.

The first patch said "Abadeer." Fionna paused. "These are Marshall's." she mumbled, nothing making anymore sense. The right patch said "U.S. Marines." Putting two and two together, she assumed that the "U-S-M" in "U.S.M.C." stood for "U.S. Marine." However, that got her no closer to figuring out what a 'Marine' was, and why Marshall was one, or had been one, or if he just had this suit.

Thinking long and hard, Fionna decided she would simply confront Marshall on the subject. What is the worst that can happen?

Fionna put the photos from before and the weird badges back into the small box, and refolded the suit, to the best of her ability. Taking off her backpack, she carefully placed each item in it, trying not to damage them anymore than they already were. She readjusting her backpack upon her shoulders, and made way for the make-shift ladder downstairs.

Sneaking wasn't Fionna's strongest skill set. However, she made a relatively successful decent down the ladder, careful not to wake Cake up, and headed out the front door, into the night. She was bound for Marshall's house, and ready for some answers!

The walk from Fionna's home is a long one, that leads directly through a patch of woods. Fionna was not afraid of the woods, though. Nothing scared her! Except for the ocean, but that was a deep mental thing she could never fully grasp.

"Hmmm, hmm, hmm, hm, hmmmmm." Fionna hummed to herself, to make the trip a little less boring. Usually, going places never bothers her, but tonight she was so eager to get where she was going, the trip felt like it was taking nine years. The entire walk, still pondering the pictures, the suit, the box, and trying to come up with answers on her own. Always falling a mile short, of course. Fionna had no knowledge of the times before The Great Mushroom War.

An ominous laugh broke Fionna's concentration. Her first instinct was to draw her sword. "Who's there?" she demanded, firmly. Another laugh, this time louder. This one seemed to echo. "Common monsters of the night, I fear nothing!" she shouted, in no particular direction. Honestly, she was telling the truth.

A voice from behind Fionna answered her challenge, "Woah, easy killer." Followed by laughter She knew that voice. "Marshall!" she shouted, "You twit! I was ready to kill you!" Marshall floated casually out from the shadows he was lurking in, and hovered upside down in from of her. "Love to see you try!" he replied, sticking his tongue out at her and giving her a wink. "Whatever you creep!" Fionna shouted, sticking her tongue back at him, as a child would.

This act only made Marshall laugh more, which slightly infuriated Fionna. "What are you doing in my domain, anyway Bunny Ears?" he asked coolly with his arms crossed, fixing himself right side up in front of her. "I was actually looking for you, durp!" she answered, her irritation at his teasing bled through her voice. He always found her irritation adorable. He let out a fake gasp, and covered his mouth, "I would have never guessed!" Fionna was let out a deep breath, rolled her eyes, and replied "Yeah, I was. Thank Glob I found you!" she retorted, with her own sarcasm.

Marshall laughed, and shot her a grin. "Oh really?" he replied, as if he didn't know, pretending to slick his hair back smoothly. His actions made Fionna's human cheeks fill with blood. "Glob, you toot, I just had to ask you about something!" she snapped back, trying to hide her face. Fionna had grown wise to his pranks, but he could make her blush every time. He took pleasure in this act. Marshall's smile grew as she tried to hide her face.

"Alright, alright. Shoot, what'cha got for me, Blue?" Marshall asked, now floating on his back with his hands behind his head. Fionna took a moment to regain her composure, and began explaining she had found a box full of weird things, she couldn't explain.

Marshall cut his act, and planted his feet in front of her. Marshall snorted, "You found my old military stuff." Fionna raised an eyebrow in reply to Marshall's answer. I guess you can call that an answer? It didn't really reveal much to the young adventuress.

Marshall grew very serious, Fionna rarely saw him like this. For a brief period there was silence between the two. Marshall snorted again, and turned his head looking in the off into the distance. "Marshall..?" Fionna mumbled in a hushed tone. He glanced back at her, and then began gazing off into the distance again. A small grin crept across Marshall's face. Not his normal grin, the type of grin typically used to mask another emotion. Fionna was overwhelmed with a new image of Marshall Lee, she had never seen him act this way before. What had memories do these nick-knacks hold?

Fionna stared curious, watching Marshall Lee carefully, awaiting something as he smiled off into the distance. "Hey, Marshy?" she tried getting his attention once more. Marshall replied calmly, chilling Fionna to her very soul. She could hear the hurt in his voice.

"Those were dark times, Fi."


	4. Stories Of Old

All Fionna could do was stare. She stared directly at Marshall Lee, as he continued to stare into the night. Minutes of silence passed between the two. She began to feel really awkward, and almost regretted finding the box of odd objects.

"Marsh-" Fionna started, but he cut her off. "I should probably be getting home soon." he said, calmly, now staring back at her. Seeing what (she could only describe as) pain in his eyes, she lowered her head, fearing she had hurt him somehow. Marshall extended his arm, placing his hand under her chin, and lifted her head back up. She blushed again, male contact had that effect on her. "Hey Blue, its fine. I'm not mad or anything." he told her, weakly. She studied his face. Even though he was smiling now, his eyes were still dull.

Fionna paused for a brief moment, having an inner battle with herself. 'Do I probe him for answers? Or let him be?' Her curiosity got the better of her, and she worked up the courage to ask him, "If you have to go, do you mind if I come with you?" More silence. Marshall's face shifted several times, and he scratched his forehead, sliding his hand down is face. "Uhh... I guess you can." he replied in a monotone, very un-Marshall-voice.

Fionna honestly felt bad for asking, but she just had to know what secrets the Vampire King held. She followed behind his, as he floated in front of her. Again, a very odd thing for Marshall to do. He usually offered her a lift, or hovered around her in circles just to be annoying. His attitude made her stomach twist into knots.

Silence. The rest of the walk to Marshall's house was silent. It didn't even seem like wildlife or monsters wanted to make a sound, when he was in this mood. The extreme knotting feeling worsened with every passing minute. Fionna felt like she was drowning in silence, she hated it. However, they arrived at Marshall's cave right as she was ready to burst. Saved by the bell, sort of.

Marshall broke the silence, "Hey, the rain the other day sort of flooded my cave floors a bit. Want a lift?" Fionna was just pleased to hear him talk, even if it was still monotoned. "Sure." she replied, simply. He hovered behind her, and grabbed her under her armpits, whisking her over the ankle high water and onto his porch. He floated up to the upstairs window, and forced it open, leaving her sight for a brief moment. She heard the door handle fidget, and soon it opened, with a paler than usual Marshall Lee standing in the doorway, welcoming her to his house.

Marshall hovered to his room while Fionna made her way to that same old uncomfortable couch. She could hear crashing coming from his room, but stayed seated, in case she would interrupt something... Or something. He soon reappeared with an acoustic guitar, not his usual battle-axe-bass. He glided over and took a seat next to her.

Marshall began to strum his guitar, tuning it accordingly. Fionna could not bear anymore silence. "This couch is still the worst piece of furniture to ever exist, ever." she let out, trying to lighten the mood. Marshall just blinked and smirked continuing with his guitar.

Silence. More silence. Fionna began to lean more towards her 'coming here was a bad idea.' state of thinking. But, right as she was about to let him know she could come back another day, she paused because Marshall's pointless strums and fidgeting with the pegs now turned into a melody. She stared at him as he played.

Marshall played short burst of guitar, and then paused and mumbled under his breath, "...Fuck."

"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road.

Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you were to go.

So make the best of this test, and don't ask why.

It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right."

Marshall quit playing, the strings still vibrating from his session. The sound filled Fionna's ears, and the song was still playing in her head. Her thoughts were cut short when she noticed the vampire open his mouth, and she listened closely to his mumbled words.

"... I hope you had the time of your life."

Marshall's words sent a chill up Fionna's spine. Her entire soul seemed to be frozen. She had never heard Marshall play anything soft in her life. It was almost an overwhelming feeling. Seeing him this way, it scared her... But made her worry for him at the same time.

Finally, Marshall broke the silence, "Do you know who that is?" Fionna stared at him, wide eyed, and shook her head. Marshall shook his head slightly and smiled, "Of course you don't. That song is Good Riddance, by Green Day." She cocked her head sideways, keeping her gaze on the vampire. He blinked and smiled, propping his guitar up between the floor and the on the couch arm beside him. Fionna didn't want to ask, but she couldn't help but wonder why the display of music all of the sudden?

"I figured, if you were going to ask about the past, I should start with something a little happier, like the music I used to listen to." Marshall stated, as if reading her mind. Fionna was dumbfounded, heavy emotions were never her strong suit. She worked herself out of her trance, and replied, "Well, I liked it." The vampire lit up a bit, and smiled, "Well, you should. It's a good song." That seemed like the Marshall she knew, even though he quickly faded back into the dark serious Marshall she had been facing for the past half hour.

Silence. Even more silence. Fionna grew impatient, but didn't want to rush Marshall. She just wanted to know what the Glob happened! Marshall closed his eyes and slouched down into the couch, and began, "See, before their was the Land of Aaa, this place used to be called the United States of America." Fionna listened attentively "Those were times of hate. No one liked anyone, and no one got along. The world was so 'perfect' that people didn't need each other anymore, so they grew cold and heartless. Selfish." he continued.

Fionna couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had always dreamed the times before her where filled with adventure, and fun. From what she did know, people back then had so many cool things.

"Don't get me wrong, it wasn't just America. NO ONE got along with anyone. At all. Everything was so corrupted. Criminals had more rights than their victims, and the rulers didn't care about their people." Marshall explained in a deep, calm voice. His eyes glazed over, as if he was looking straight through her. Fioinna's brain began to ache as she tried to process the information, and overwrite all of her happy thoughts of the past.

Fionna's thought process was cut short when Marshall began to speak again, "Let me see those pictures you brought." She quickly flung off her backpack, and rummaged through it with haste, looking for the pictures. She found one, the one with all the humans in strange uniforms, and handed it too him. Marshall smiled when he laid eyes on the picture. He took one hand off of the image, and motioned her to come closer. She complied.

Both Marshall Lee and Fionna were looking at the picture now. There was moments of silence, before Marshall laughed a cold laugh, and pointed at the picture with his free hand. "These guys, were my friends." he stated. Even though Fionna had assumed such, it still was hard to process. "See that guy on the left? That was Smitty. That guy was Dymo. That guy was Snowman. That is me. That guy was Jacks. That was A.J. And that guy was Dexter." he explained, pointing his long pale fingers at each human as he named them.

Fionna felt like her brain was mush, she couldn't find the words to say, or the feelings to feel. Silence broke out between the two, as Marshall continued to stare at the photo. She mustered up what courage she could find, "I'm sorry. You said 'was'? What happened?" The Vampire Kind sighed, and in a cold grim voice informed her, "All but two were killed in war. The Smitty and Snowman, died of radiation after the war."

Fionna felt her breathing get heavy as Marshall's eyes grew duller and duller. Just as she was going to apologize for bringing those horrible memories back to him, he began to speak again "Will you get me the uniform you said you had?" Fionna nodded, silently, and fished the uniform from her bag.

Marshall Lee unfolded the uniform and held it out in front of him. He smiled again. "I got to keep these when I finished my School of Infantry." he announced. Everything he said was foreign to Fionna, she didn't know what a school was, or infantry. Seeing the confusion plastered on her face, he grinned and explained, "When a country was mad at another country, they went to war. If you loved your country, you fought for it. I was a member of the United States Marine Corps, along with the guys from the photo you found. We were the warriors of our day." The Vampire King took another long pause. His eyes seemed to gaze deep into the uniform, no in his lap, as if it was a book that told a sad story.

Fionna was enthralled with Marshall's story, and happy to finally have some answers. However, she could not deny the fact that she had been up all day, fought the Ice Queen, and is now awake at unglobly hours of the night. So, she yawned. Marshall saw this as an excuse to cut story time short, "You're getting tired, Fionna. You should probably get home. We'll finish up another day, promise." Marshall extended his pinky finger. Fionna stared him down, and then smiled. She met his pinky with hers, blushing at the male contact. She could tell Marshall was in some mood she'd never seen him in before, because he didn't laugh or tease her for blushing.

They broke contact, and Fionna started at the door. Marshall stood to walk her out. He opened the door for her as she had a brief yawning fit. He just smiled at her, as she stood stationary trying to fight the need for sleep.

Fionna headed out the door when she was done with her surprise yawning attack. She soon popped her head back through the doorway. "Hey Marshy, it started storming again Can I please crash here tonight?" she pleaded, too tired to walk home in the freezing night rain. Marshall just smiled, "Whatever, lazy. You can have my bed. I'll take the couch." This offer through Fionna off a bit, because she had stayed with Marshall before, and he never let her sleep in his bed.

No matter how much she argued, he insisted she have the bed. Fionna leaned forward and hugged him, for once she initiated the male contact, catching him by complete surprise. "Thanks Marsh, you are the best." she assured him, leaping back and taking off for the staircase. Marshall scratched his head and replied "I know." as she trotted upstairs into his bedroom, yawning the entire way.

Fionna was blushing, tingly, and yawning as she ran up the stairs. She wasn't fully sure were the hug had came from, because she doesn't normally hug anyone, but she hugged Marshall. Maybe she felt bad for him? Was it a pity hug? No, she doesn't pity hug when she does hug. Maybe this new side of Marshall softened her up? She was too tired to think it over for very long. She soon dozed off into a deep, well deserved sleep.

Before settling down on the couch, Marshall made sure Fionna was in bed and safely asleep. His thoughts were mixed, and overall depressing. However, his main concern wasn't the memories of his fallen friends, or the life he once lived. He was pondering Fionna's unexpected hug. I mean, she doesn't hug. He covered his eyes with his palms, applying so much force he thought he was going to squish his eyes into his brain. He liked Fionna. He just knew they couldn't be together, no matter how much he wanted to. He couldn't get in another relationship. Never. Never again. Especially with Fionna. She is to perfect for him, he can't afford to ruin his memories of her. He knew how it would end. But still, he lay there on that couch thinking about her, and the life they could live if only he wasn't a stupid vampire.

Marshall mumbled softly,

"I hate myself."


End file.
